Curcumin Inhibits Expression Of Palmitate-induced MIF, TNF-α And INOS In Raw264.7Macrophages

ObjectiveThis study was aimed to investigate the effects of curcumin on theexpression of inflammatory factors including macrophage migrationinhibition factor (MIF), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and inducible nitricoxide synthase (iNOS) induced by palmitate in macrophages.MethodsThe murine Raw264.7cells were cultured, and were divided into threegroups:(1) Control group;(2) Palmitate (250μmol/L) group; And (3)Palmitate (250μmol/L) plus Curcumin (40μmol/L) group. The reversetranscription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to measure themRNA expression of inflammatory factors including MIF, TNF-α andiNOS. The protein expression of MIF and TNF-α in supernatants wasmeasured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The activity ofiNOS in cytoplasm was detected by spectrophotometer.Results:1. After24h incubation, comparing with the control group, the mRNA expression of MIF, TNF-α and iNOS significantly increased inpalmitate group (all p<0.05). And palmitate also obviously elevated theprotein expression of MIF and TNF-α (all p<0.05). Moreover, the activity ofiNOS was significantly higher in palmitate group than that in control group(p<0.05).2. After incubation with Curcumin, the mRNA expression ofinflammatory factors including MIF, TNF-α and iNOS induced by palmitatewere inhibited. And the elevated protein expression of MIF and TNF-αinduced by palmitate were also significantly decreased by Curcumin.Besides, compared with that in the control or palmitate group, the activity ofiNOS was obviously attenuated in the palmitate plus Curcumin.ConclusionsOur data suggest that palmitate can induce the expression ofinflammatory factors including MIF, TNF-α and iNOS in macrophages，butall of which were attenuated evidently by Curcumin.